PHOTOS: Black market gold

MINING.com receives numerous emails every week from around the world offering us good deals on anything from europium oxide to cold rolled steel, not to mention second-hand excavators or a discount on an Ulan Bator apartment for rent.

But this particular message sent from a nondescript gmail account that started with "Dear gold business hello" and the accompanying photos caught our eye.
On offer was "perennial supply of gold ore" from Africa purportedly of "superior quality" but with no purity rating at "PRICE $42000 PER KG _". The ruling price for gold on Monday was closer to $55,000 per kilogram of gold.

Like South America and parts of Asia, artisanal mining is a huge industry in Africa, but that's still a lot of gold to have gathered in one place.